Food for my Brain - Yoga

I have been somebody who always felt I get too emotional, hyper-sensitive, insecure and anxious. But, am I like that now? Well, yes and no.?

Today, I cannot tell that I am more stable but I can definitely tell that I know how to handle myself better. Wondering how? Simple…I started doing yoga.?

I know it sounds really generic but this was definitely true in my case.?

The relaxation I experienced in the very first yoga session was so huge that (honestly) I was all teared up after the experience. I didn’t know I could be so calm and relaxed after a high intense yoga session. This experience got me hooked to yoga and I have been pursuing it ever since.?

Today, I know that my parasympathetic nervous system, which is the most important system for calming yourself, is very active. Of course, I am not running away without telling how I got it active.?

It’s simple…In fact, really simple. JUST BREATHE! Well, not just any breath, a deep complete slow breathing.?

Here is what happens. In our school we all learned that we have something called a nervous system. In that there are two types:

1. Sympathetic Nervous System
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System

The Parasympathetic Nervous System is responsible for relaxing our body. When you take a really deep and slow breath, the air that flows into your lungs starts to trigger your heart at the same speed thus slowing down the heart rate. Well, we all know that we breathe really fast and our heart rate is really high when we are scared, angry etc. Right? So, this is the exact opposite of it that we are talking about. When you are calm, your breathing becomes really slow, and your heart beats really mildly. Ie. Your physical nature reflects on your body systems. By slowing down our breath consciously, the perverse happens and we calm ourselves down. Really simple right?

So, for me, this is the food for my brain. With yoga, and the practices of long holds with conscious breathing and pranayama, my system has been manipulated (in a really good way of course) to be able to keep my parasympathetic nervous system dominant over my sympathetic nervous system. Thanks to being calm, I have more clarity today in every single thing that I do, than how it used to be before.?

I am happy to say I am way better a person then I was before I started practicing yoga and this is how yoga helped my brain.

Keep Smiling :)

Here is what I do today in this beautiful journey : https://happyfeetyoga.exlyapp.com/